Mitt Romney told Parade magazine in an interview to be released Sunday that there's a very good reason to not make his personal income tax statements public. This is the real, honest to goodness reason, too. Not like the others. And here it is.

He wants to keep the amount of his tithing -- the 10 percent cut (gross, not net) that goes to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints -- private.

"Our church doesn’t publish how much people have given. This is done entirely privately. One of the downsides of releasing one’s financial information is that this is now all public, but we had never intended our contributions to be known. It’s a very personal thing between ourselves and our commitment to our God and to our church."

Governor Romney? One of the downsides of running for president is that you are not a private citizen any more. And the public has the right to see your income tax returns.

ROBIN ROBERTS: Your husband has been adamant about only the two years that will be released. Why will he not follow the example of others on both sides of the aisle?

ANN ROMNEY: You know, I think there is reason for all of these things. You know, you should really look at where Mitt has led his life and where he's been financially. He's been a very generous person. We give ten percent of our income to our church every year. Do you think that is the kind of person that is trying to hide things?

At (a) news conference, Romney suggested that his charitable contributions should also be taken into account. “Every year, I’ve paid at least 13 percent, and if you add, in addition, the amount that goes to charity, why the number gets well above 20 percent,” Romney said.

This is called "having your cake and not paying taxes on it."

Whether or not the American Electorate is going to let him get away with it is another question.

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